


so says the falling star

by asexuelf



Category: Sally Face (Video Games)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Relationship, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Literal Sleeping Together, M/M, Post-Episode 3: The Bologna Incident, Stargazing, Travis Phelps Needs a Hug, but before episode 4, i was so sleep-deprived when i wrote this, realized i typoed the tags akdjskd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:55:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22196644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asexuelf/pseuds/asexuelf
Summary: Travis doesn't want his date with Sal to end, but the weather has other plans.
Relationships: Sal Fisher/Travis Phelps
Comments: 10
Kudos: 49





	so says the falling star

**Author's Note:**

> not my best work by far and probably riddled with typos (i must have found like 10 before giving up akdjsk), but i literally could not sleep until this was finished. i am so tired
> 
> this was supposed to be just a slightly angsty stargazing fic but it quickly turned into something else because i apparently cant just leave travis to be sad akdnskfs 
> 
> even if its not up to par, I STILL SINCERELY HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS FLUFF!! 💖

There's an ice-cold breeze whirling around the top of Addison Apartments.

It's loud in his ears and against his wind-breaker coat, picking up speed as the night hours grow small, but Travis still can't find the will to stand and go inside, not while Sal's head is resting on his chest. For once, Sal looks content in sleep, his mask left beside the few blankets they brought up to lay on, leaving him bare and beautiful under the dim light of the moon.

"Sally," he whispers. He can't bear the thought of bringing those precious snores to an end, doesn't want to put a crease back between those slack brows, but he doesn't want Sal freezing either. "Sally, we have to go inside."

Though Sal doesn't wake, he does mumble something out in his sleep. It's the same as always - completely unintelligible, as if he's speaking some tongue no one else has thought of yet. Still, the tone of it sounds pleasant, so Travis sighs and lies back on the too-crinkly sleeping bag, grateful, at least, that Sal isn't having a nightmare.

With his head thrown back against the blankets, he can see the stars again.

Sal had pointed out the shapes in them so excitedly, occasionally forced to bring his hands to his mouth to breathe hot hair over them. Even then, he'd be chattering happily about the stories behind each constellation; mythological, historical, astronomical - you name it, Sal could reach up into the sky and choose a star and a way to enthral you with it.

And Travis _was_ enthralled. He'd never really given the cosmos much thought before outside of distant wonderings of Heaven, so Sal's date idea was definitely a new one for him. And a good one, too. With his cold fingers pressed under Sal's sweater and shirt to find shelter against the warm skin of his soft belly, Travis found himself enraptured by Sal's voice as he spelled out fact and fiction alike.

"You're amazing," Travis whispers. With Sal asleep on top of him, there's only the stars left to hear him. That's for the best, because it's the only way he'll ever have the courage to say, "I love you so much it makes my soul ache."

Sal doesn't reply. He just snuggles further into Travis' itchy sweater, oblivious to the fear Travis feels when Sal snuggles his still-delicate scars a little too close to the zipper of his jacket, and mumbles adorable, incomprehensible nonsense.

In a moment, Travis will have to wake him and bring him back to his room. For now, he feels Sal's warmth, feel Sal's weight, and enjoys the moment. The air is so cold above Addison Apartments, cold enough that he should have scurried inside a long time ago now, but Travis knows he would sit on this roof in a blizzard if it meant even a moment more of Sal's company.

Doing so will only result in harm to Sal, however, which means that in a moment, this really will all be over. They'll go downstairs and go to sleep and in the morning, Travis will go back to his father's house as if this evening never happened. For now, though - for as long as he can - he leans back his head and gazes at the stars Sal shared with him.

Some strange part of him wonders what it might be like if he could become one of those constellations, a sad tale that Sal could remember with fondness and share with those he held dear. Or perhaps even the two of them, together in the sky for the rest of time, remembered by people decades after they've already gone.

What nonsense. Cold and sad and so full of love, Travis wishes it weren't nonsense.

As he stares and wishes and wishes and wishes, those cute snores that he so loves to hear slowly make way to sniffles. They should have gone in earlier. With a sigh he seems to pull from his very bones, Travis gently shakes Sal awake.

"Sal," Travis whispers. "Sally, it's colder than we thought. Let me take you inside, please."

Sal mumbles more, words that slowly make way to English, "Oh, shit. It's so cold, Travis."

"Yeah, I noticed. Come on, let me help you stand before you get sick."

And Sal does, putting up not even a token protest when Travis pulls him up and dusts roof dirt off of his clothes. He just stands sleepily and smiles, even as he shivers, while Travis fusses. Travis fixes his coat, fixes his hair, fixes his prosthesis back on for the trek through the apartment, but still, those eyes squint contentedly behind his mask. Even when Travis stuffs heavy blankets into his arms and ushers him to the stairs, he just keeps smiling.

"Did you have a good time tonight?" Travis asks quietly as they make to the door. Sal's in front of him, and Travis watches as moonlight reflect off of his hair. "You're smiling an awful lot."

"Oh- it's just. I had a really great dream."

"That's good." And it is - Travis has been woken too many times by Sal's frequent nightmares. If he could take them all away, he would, no matter the cost. "Do you... want to share? It's okay if you don't."

His hand stills on the roof door, body gone awkwardly stiff in that way Travis knows means he's embarrassed. Then, Sal turns to face him. "It's silly… We were together, just like tonight, happy and talking and you- you said something to me. It was a very good something."

Travis' face grows hot enough to fight the freezing chill creeping up on them. Did Sal hear what he was saying as he slept? "I'm glad to hear it. You deserve good dreams, Sal." Even if he can't say it to a waking Sal, at least dream Travis can say his _I love you_ s to a sleeping one.

At that, Sal laughs. "Thanks… And, um, the thing you said in the dream? I said it back to you. So, I'll- I'll say it now." Travis blinks widely. "I- I love you. A lot. Tonight meant a lot to me and I'm glad I got to spend it with you."

The stars are suddenly brighter than they've been all night, but Travis can't so much as spare them a glance. He wouldn't care to.

"I-" The words bunch in his throat like wads of swallowed paper, letters written and burned and written and burned a thousand times over. "Sally, you have no idea, I…"

Behind his mask, Sal is still smiling. "But you do, right? I still can't believe it sometimes…" He reaches out, touching his ice-cold fingers against Travis'. "It's okay if you can't say it. I know it can be scary. It's- a little scary for me too."

"I love you so fucking much."

"Oh!" The smile before was nothing - now Sal's eyes are small, glittering slits, nearly forced shut with the width of his grin. "I love you so fucking much too! Now let's get out of this cold, yeah?"

Travis lets Sal lead him out of the cold night air, down the stairs and into his bedroom. When they lie down together, undressed of their winter clothes or pajamas, he presses his cold fingers into Sal's warm skin again and sighs contentedly when Sal does the same.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!! 💖 if you have any requests or anything like that, never be afraid to ask!


End file.
